No place for Harmison as England name first Ashes Test squad

England have unveiled their squad for the first Ashes Test, starting at Cardiff on Wednesday, with Ian Bell and Graham Onions added to the XI that drew with Warwickshire in the three-day warm-up game at Edgbaston earlier this week.

Steve Harmison’s six wickets for England Lions - including twice removing Aussie prodigy Phil Hughes – have not earned him a recall. Monty Panesar has kept out a strong challenge for the second spinner’s slot from Adil Rashid.

National Selector, Geoff Miller said: “We were delighted with the way in which the team performed in the warm-up match at Edgbaston and it was very encouraging to see Andrew Flintoff bowl so well on his return to the side.

“We were keen to show consistency in selection and retain the nucleus of the side that performed so well against West Indies in the npower Test series earlier this summer. Graham Onions has made an excellent start to his Test career and gives us a different option when we consider the make-up of our bowling attack and the type of conditions we will encounter.

“ Ian Bell has performed well in county cricket this summer and he will act as cover batsman for this Test match should any of our established batsmen be unavailable through injury.

“There is healthy competition for places in our starting line-up at present and the strong performance by the England Lions against Australia at Worcester demonstrated that we are starting to develop a larger squad of players who can compete effectively with international class players.”

Squad Andrew Strauss (capt) Middlesex; James Anderson; Ian Bell; Ravi Bopara; Stuart Broad; Paul Collingwood; Alastair Cook; Andrew Flintoff; Graham Onions; Monty Panesar; Kevin Pietersen; Matt Prior; Graeme Swann

MOTM Swann inspires England to win inside three days

England beat West Indies by ten wickets at Lord’s, chasing down a target of 32 to win the first Test, shortly before the scheduled close of Day 3.

Graeme Swann, who took six wickets in the match as well as hitting an unbeaten 63, was named man of the match.

England bowled out West Indies for 256 this afternoon. After a delayed start due to rain, West Indies resumed on 39/2 this morning. By lunch they were 80/5 and, still 145 behind after following on, appeared heading for defeat sooner rather than later

Swann had dismissed the Windies rock Chanderpaul (4) cheaply for the second time in the match, emphasising the apparent hold he has over the West Indies’ six left-handers.

But with Brendan Nash (81) and Denesh Ramdin putting on 143 for the sixth wicket, England were made to work in the afternoon session. Stuart Broad broke the partnership, dismissing Ramdin on the verge of tea. Soon Nash, getting over-adventurous as he ran out of partners, fell to Broad too, caught in the deep by Cook.

West Indies had lost 2o wickets in less than 105 overs’ batting time in the match, a shabby performance in the light of their recent series win over England in warmer and more bat-friendly conditions

So Strauss and Flower’s new-look England start the season on a high. They were gifted momentum, first, by West Indies’ dropping six catches on the first day and then by a hapless batting performance.

Seeing England’s delight at beating one of the few teams ranked below their own No 6 place in the ICC table will not necessarily have the Aussies quaking. If England can’t beat West Indies in a home Test shortly after Easter, then they really should pack up and go home.

But at least, in the performances of Swann, Onions and Bopara, this England team have made a definite stride forwards; the grim aura of underachievement that surrounded the Vaughan-Harmison-Panesar-Moores axis over the last 12 months has, for the moment at least, been dispelled.

Five-wicket Onions puts England on top

England have not won a Test in four years at Lord’s. Their defeat in the opening game of the 2005 Ashes has been followed by six consecutive draws, thanks to a series of high-scoring games mixed with poor weather.

But with three days to play in the first Test the West Indies are, following on, still 186 runs behind, thanks to a sensational debut from Graham Onions.

The weather forecast is gloomy - but surely not so gloomy as to stop England kicking off the Ashes summer on a high.

Graham Onions’ debut didn’t start too well: he was out first ball when England batted and his first four overs went for 22. But then it all turned round for the Durham fast bowler, as he took the last five Windies wickets in 27 balls including three in one over and four in seven balls.

Those seven balls saw the end of Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor, Denesh Ramdin and Sulieman Benn and took West Indies from being down (117/5) to being very nearly all out (128/9).

Earlier, Graeme Swann had picked up the key wicket of Shiv Chanderpual, caught at slip first ball.

With West Indies all out for 152 in reply’s to England’s 377 (Bopara 143, Swann 63*), they followed on 225 runs behind and soon lost Chris Gayle (0) and Ronnie Sarwan (1), both to Anderson.

Bresnan and Onions called up to England Test squad

Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan and Durham ’s Graham Onions have been named in the England 12 for the first npower Test match against the West Indies which starts at Lord’s on Wednesday.

Ravi Bopara, who scored an outstanding 104 against the West Indies in Bridgetown, is chosen in the batting line up ahead of Owais Shah, who batted at No 3 in the recent series in the Caribbean.

 

Bresnan, 24, has played in five One Day Internationals for England as well as a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka at Southampton in 2006 while Onions, 26, will be making his first appearance in an England Test squad. Both Bresnan and Onions have appeared for the England Lions.

Geoff Miller, National Selector, said: ‘This is very exciting for the two young fast bowlers to be included in the squad for a Lord’s Test match and sends a message to all county players that if they put in consistently good performances they will get recognised. Both have had good starts to this season and had been close to Test match selection on a number of occasions. They have earned their place in the party.

‘The selectors also felt that Ravi Bopara deserved his chance after his performance in his single Test in the Caribbean this winter. There was a lot of competition for that batting position but Bopara now has the opportunity to stake a claim. He showed in Barbados that he has the ability to play at Test level.’

England squad for the 1st npower Test Match against West Indies - Lord’s May 6-10: A Strauss (Middlesex, captain); J Anderson (Lancashire); R Bopara (Essex); T Bresnan (Yorkshire ); S Broad (Nottinghamshire); P Collingwood (Durham); A Cook (Essex); G Onions  (Durham); M Panesar (Northamptonshire); K Pietersen (Hampshire); M Prior (Sussex); G Swann (Nottinghamshire)